British voters are ready to go to the polls today, July 4, and put an end to 14 years of Conservative rule. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who made the biggest bet by calling for early elections, has not been able to reverse the negative sentiment against him as it appears from the polls and is now on the brink of a crushing defeat.

In contrast, the opposition Labor party appears to be triumphing in the polls, ushering in a centre-left government led by former barrister Keir Starmer.

When and how does Britain vote?

After weeks of campaigning, the polls open at 7am. local time (9am Greek time) on Thursday and will remain open until 10pm. (12 Greek time).

Britons can vote in each of the country’s 650 constituencies, choosing the MP to represent their area.

The leader of the party that wins the majority of these constituencies becomes prime minister and can form a government. This means that the 326 is the magic number for an overall majority.

If there is no majority, they will have to look elsewhere for help, governing as a minority government – ​​as Theresa May did in 2017 – or forming a coalition, as David Cameron did after 2010.

The monarch has an important, if symbolic, role. King Charles III must approve the formation of a governments, the decision to hold elections and the dissolution of parliament. The King will never contradict his prime minister or annul the results of an election.

Why did Sunak call an election?

Sunak could call an election until January 2025, but the decision of when to do so was his alone.

His problem was that there weren’t many good options for him. He was trailing by 20 points in the polls, and that gap hadn’t changed in months. Some have urged him to wait in office in the hope that the bad economic news will improve in the coming months. But on the other hand, Rishi Sunak has put much of his political capital into his pledge to stop small boat crossings from the UK by asylum seekers.

In fact, it recently passed a controversial law to process some claims in Rwanda, although no one has yet been deported and the plan may face further legal challenges.

In the summer months, migration flows across the English Channel traditionally increase, damaging his election campaign.

Finally, after some good news about the British economy, such as falling inflation, Rishi Sunak finally decided that now was the least bad time to pull the trigger and call an election.

Who is expected to win?

The almost universal expectation is that Sunak’s Conservative Party will lose the election. Labor has been leading in the polls since late 2021 and that lead has been huge throughout the campaign. They lead by around 20 points on average, with the Tories narrowly ahead of Reform UK and the Lib Dems coming in fourth.

When these percentages are converted into seats in parliament, the numbers would indicate either a comfortable Labor victory or a landslide victory for Labor so huge it would almost wipe out the Conservatives.

The Conservatives’ reputation has gradually begun to falter since the lockdown due to Covid-19 and the infamous Partygate as well as a series of other scandals that led to the downfall of Boris Johnson’s prime ministership and then the dark six-week tenure of the successor of Liz Truss, whose fiscal agenda sent markets into turmoil.

Conservative defeat is now so certain that even Rishi Sunak campaigning in recent weeks has focused on encouraging his supporters to prevent a massive Labor victory rather than getting himself re-elected as prime minister, essentially conceding with thus his defeat.

But Labor is concerned that people are taking the result for granted and has stressed in recent days that nothing is decided until the votes are counted.

How did the election campaign develop?

Starmer and Sunak have gone head-to-head in two televised debates, which have been ugly at times and have featured disputed claims – notably a claim by Sunak that Labor will saddle Britons with thousands of new taxes, which Labor has ruled out.

Labour’s campaign was otherwise focused on a promise of “change” while pledging prudence over the nation’s finances.

Sunak, meanwhile, struggled to stay on track. But his decision to leave D-Day commemorations early sparked outrage in Britain and he was forced to apologise.

Who is Keir Starmer?

Rishi Sunak’s rival for power is Labor leader Keir Starmer, who is also expected to be Britain’s new prime minister in July.

A former human rights lawyer by profession who later served as Britain’s chief prosecutor. For Starmer, politics came a little late in his life. He became a Labor MP in 2015 and in less than five years took the reins of the party, after a stint as shadow Brexit secretary during Britain’s protracted exit from the European Union.

Starmer inherited a party reeling from its worst election defeat in generations, but prioritized an overhaul of the culture – eyeing left-wing supporters of former leader Jeremy Corbyn and publicly apologizing for a long-running anti-Semitism scandal that had tarnished the party’s standing .

He has sought to claim Britain’s political center and is described by his supporters as a man of principle and a serious leader with a focus on tackling the systemic issues facing Britain. But his opponents, both on the left of his party and on the right of the political spectrum, say he lacks charisma and ideas and accuse him of failing to present an ambitious and broad vision for the nation.

Who else is running for prime minister?

Only Sunak or Starmer have a realistic chance of becoming prime minister, but their plans could be disrupted by some smaller parties.

Nigel Farage, the far-right populist who leads Reform UK, has announced he will stand in the election.

Farage has been critical of Sunak’s actions on immigration and his party has placed him well behind the Tories in several polls. Maintaining this level of support on the day after the election could see the Tories decimated at the polls.

Meanwhile, as Farage attacks Sunak from the right, the Lib Dems, a centrist, pro-European group, have chipped away at Conservative support in affluent southern parts of England.

Given Labour’s position in the polls, Keir Starmer is better equipped to take on the smaller parties. First, he will try to end the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) long dominance at the polls.

But he should also be mindful of the Green Party, which challenged him from the left and has attracted some younger liberal votes.

In recent local elections, there were also signs that Labour’s stance on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza had hurt the party in Muslim-majority areas.

What issues will determine the outcome of the election?

The answer to that question will go some way to determining the winner of the night.

Labor has sought to cut the slack on a party that has tired the nation for 14 years with Brexit, a stuttering economy and a series of sordid scandals.

In particular, Starmer has spoken a lot about the cost of living that affects British families and the chaotic situation that exists in the country’s National Health System (NHS).

Sunak, by contrast, has tried to focus on migration – his ‘Stop the Boats’ promise has yet to work, but his flagship for Rwanda has at least become law. And he tried to convince voters that the economy has turned a corner and now that things are looking up the people cannot risk a change in government.

When will we know the results?

Once the polls open on Thursday, the media in Britain are banned from discussing anything that could influence the vote.

Once the voting stops, an exit poll will be published which will determine how the results night will unfold. The poll, carried out by Ipsos for the BBC, ITV and Sky, predicts the distribution of seats in the new parliament and has historically proven to be very accurate.

The count will continue throughout the night. The first accurate results will have become visible around 3 am. local time and the new prime minister – if there is one – will be in his new post by noon on Friday.

But things can take longer if the outcome is controversial.

Either way, the infamous sudden handover of power will have taken place over the weekend, giving the new government a few weeks to work out key legislation before parliament adjourns for the summer.